


Joker Colours Meta (& Extras)

by darthaline



Category: Joker (2019)
Genre: Color Theory, Gen, Meta, Nonfiction, Parallelism, Spoilers, Symbolism
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-11-17
Updated: 2019-11-17
Packaged: 2021-02-08 02:48:07
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,477
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21468811
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/darthaline/pseuds/darthaline
Summary: Even before I watched the Joker, I was intrigued by the decision to change Joker’s signature colours, and it was absolutely delightful to pick apart and decode the colour language of the movie. So here I would like to offer my interpretation, and some extras on themes of breaking free, of expressing emotions through environment, and narrative ambiguity.
Comments: 8
Kudos: 27





	Joker Colours Meta (& Extras)

**Author's Note:**

> Posted on tumblr here: https://artaline.tumblr.com/post/189131358468/joker-colours-meta-extras
> 
> I'm sorry my beta is british and they changed all colors to colours and I can't be bothered fixing it.

Even before I watched the Joker, I was intrigued by the decision to change Joker’s signature colours, and it was absolutely delightful to pick apart and decode the colour language of the movie. So here I would like to offer my interpretation, and some extras on themes of breaking free, of expressing emotions through environment, and narrative ambiguity. (Spoilers warning!)

(Different jokers line up. Image from [https://www.pri.org/stories/2019-10-03/maniacal-evolution-joker-s-look](https://t.umblr.com/redirect?z=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.pri.org%2Fstories%2F2019-10-03%2Fmaniacal-evolution-joker-s-look&t=ODZjMTZjZmYyMGQ2MmQ2ZDM5YzNiZGY1YzE3NTFjODIyMTJiMzRkYSx4UUJMaFdVcg%3D%3D&b=t%3AHcHHbSYAheTI-Y53Dotipw&p=https%3A%2F%2Fartaline.tumblr.com%2Fpost%2F189131358468%2Fjoker-colours-meta-extras&m=1))

**Colours in Joker**

One thing which caught my eye with the new Joker design was how clean and bright are the colours of his Joker costume (compared to TDK Joker and in general). That is achieved by staying closer to the primary colours, red and yellow, and abandoning the classical secondary purple-green palette (green is still present and important, but we will return to it later).

(Primary and secondary colours in the colour wheel. Image from [https://color-wheel-artist.com/primary-colors/](https://t.umblr.com/redirect?z=https%3A%2F%2Fcolor-wheel-artist.com%2Fprimary-colors%2F&t=NjI5ZmRlMzUwYjQ0YTc0MjY5YmVhMmRlNzBkZWE0MDE1ODc4OTFhYSx4UUJMaFdVcg%3D%3D&b=t%3AHcHHbSYAheTI-Y53Dotipw&p=https%3A%2F%2Fartaline.tumblr.com%2Fpost%2F189131358468%2Fjoker-colours-meta-extras&m=1))

The easiest to interpret for me has been red. After all it’s very strongly associated with Sophie Dumond, Arthur’s love interest, and signifies love, warmth and femininity. From her first appearance in a burgundy red cardigan in the elevator, up until the very last reveal she sports reds and pinks or basks in a soft red light.

(Sophie dropping off her daughter to school)

(Sophie watching Arthur’s stand up show.)

Arthur’s mother, Penny Fleck, also favors reds, however hers are often washed out and mixed with yellows.

(Arthur caring for his mom)

(Arthur and Penny having an argument about her never telling him about him being Thomas Wayne’s son)

Arthur himself speaks love in reds. When he comes to Wayne manor and shows Bruce magic tricks, the clown nose is the main splash of colour and an offer of brotherly love.

(Arthur coming to Wayne manor and showing Bruce magic tricks)

Similarly, when he sneaks into the opera to talk to Thomas Wayne, he does so by wearing a red bellboy costume.

(Arthur sneaking into the opera)

In contrast, blue is *not a good colour* in this story. It’s cold and harsh, and promises more cruelty and humiliation, starting from Arthur’s work at the circus, to the hospital, to the TV show.

(Arthur struggling to fix his clown shoe at work)

(Arthur when his mother is in the hospital)

(Arthur backstage at the TV show as they replay the record of his stand up show)

Interestingly enough, that’s the colour his colleague Randall (the one who gave Arthur the gun) favors.

(Randall at the lockers)

In Arthur’s fantasy from the start of the movie, of being on the show, the scene is dominated by blue, but unlike in real life Arthur is embraced by it, rather than hurt, and he manages to establish himself as a man, rather than a boy like Randall insists on calling him. It is something of a speculation, but I think that Randall despite behaving sort of friendly towards Arthur, has been indebting him to himself to impose (possibly sexual) favors, thus insistent possessiveness and offer of protection in the form of a gun.

(Arthur in his fantasy of being on the TV show)

All of this ultimately leads to Arthur only keeping blue only in the eye marks of his make up, as a sign of all the grievance it caused him.

(Arthur crying as he applies his make up)

The yellow took me some time to quite put my finger on, until I remembered one crucial frame.

(Prescription bottles)

Yellow is a sign of illness and delusion. Unsurprisingly Arkham Asylum is a domain of yellow.

(A corridor in Arkham Asylum)

It is rather fitting that at the very start of the movie Arthur is quite literally hit in the face with a huge yellow sign.

(Arthur getting hit in the face with a yellow sign)

Yellow highlights the moments where Arthur’s initially innocent fantasy of talking to Sophie starts getting out of hand, until it finally culminates in Sophie’s apartment losing all signs of her signature red and revealing that the whole relationship was a delusion.

(Arthur talking with Sophie at the door)

(Arthur kissing Sophie after the murder on the subway)

(Arthur coming into Sophie’s apartment after reading Arkham records of his mother.)

In the context of blue and yellow, green, as a mixture of them reads extremely depressing, however there is a new transgressive quality to it. The moment they first mix together and crystalize into green is Arthur’s victory dance in the bathroom after killing those 3 men on the subway.

(Arthur in the toilet after the subway murder.)

Lawrence Sher who was a Joker cinematographer nicely points out that green may have very different meanings in different settings, including “the power of transition”, which I believe describes this scene very nicely.

(Lawrence Sher talking about the use of colour in movies. Screenshot from [https://youtu.be/th9pG9Q6Kuo](https://t.umblr.com/redirect?z=https%3A%2F%2Fyoutu.be%2Fth9pG9Q6Kuo&t=Y2E5YTU5OGM4OWQxMTgwMDYxMWIxM2VlMDlkNWYwNDc3MTY2ZDE0MSx4UUJMaFdVcg%3D%3D&b=t%3AHcHHbSYAheTI-Y53Dotipw&p=https%3A%2F%2Fartaline.tumblr.com%2Fpost%2F189131358468%2Fjoker-colours-meta-extras&m=1))

Ultimately, I believe, all these colours create a very powerful story, and highlight that Arthur’s journey is one of embracing all the things he was told were wrong with him, and loving himself for who he is, in a world which won’t love him back.

(Arthur in his full Joker costume on the dark blue hood of a police car.)

What is perhaps the most fascinating to me in the new Joker, is that his ultimate colour scheme is very similar to one other character who plays a crucial role in Batman’s story.

(Robin, the junior counterpart to Batman. Image from [https://www.wikiwand.com/en/Robin_(character)](https://t.umblr.com/redirect?z=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.wikiwand.com%2Fen%2FRobin_%28character%29&t=NDRiMWQ4MjdjYTIxNWJlMTcxYTgxMmY2YjFkYTQ0YzA2ZDAxNmUxOSx4UUJMaFdVcg%3D%3D&b=t%3AHcHHbSYAheTI-Y53Dotipw&p=https%3A%2F%2Fartaline.tumblr.com%2Fpost%2F189131358468%2Fjoker-colours-meta-extras&m=1))

Batman’s young sidekick Robin, also originating from a circus troop, sports a red-green-yellow as his signature colours as well.

**Hatching and breaking free**

Neither a bat, nor a bird, Joker doesn’t have a metaphorical power of flight, but there is one recurring motive in the movie which I feel can be dubbed as ‘hatching’. On multiple occasions Arthur is trying to force his way out, until the final transformative time when the medical van crashes into police car breaking him free.

(Arthur in the asylum banging his head on the door glass.)

(Arthur smashing a telephone booth with his forehead.)

(Arthur smashing the car’s front window as he’s hit by a taxi)

(Arthur being carried out of the police car.)

**Joker and crying**

One thing I found fascinating in the movie, is that no matter what happens, Arthur seems entirely incapable of crying unless he’s wearing his clown make-up (see picture above), but the world seems to weep for him instead (which, possibly could be read as a comment on toxic masculinity).

(Arthur after having been beat up, with his costume flower leaking water.)

(Arthur coming back home after reading his mother’s file.)

Unable to cry, he keeps laughing, but not a single time does his laughter sound like the one of genuine amusement, rather than pain.

**A note on narrative ambiguity**

Back when Inception first came out I was chatting with my friend about the ending, and he was talking about how his brother insisted that the spinning top in the end continues to spin, and that infuriated my friend a lot, because how dare he?

I keep seeing articles and youtube videos titled “Is Joker really [spoiler]?” and speculation about the fate of Sophie, various references to the Word of God, and lists of narrative clues meant to prove things one way or the other. I think it’s great that there are conversations and people trying to analyze the story looking for evidence. Heck, I did letter / photo writing matching myself (Penny’s handwriting seems more elaborate than the one on the photo, but at the end of the letter one of her T’s slips into simpler one).

(Second page of Penny’s letter to Thomas Wayne)

(Young Penny’s photo with a note on the reverse signed T.W.)

Full disclosure, I do want to think that Thomas Wayne is really Arthur’s father, because I believe it makes for a more satisfying narrative. I am content with the Word of God that Sophie is fine, and that Arthur only kills those who wronged him, because I find the alternative to be too depressing. However it’s entirely possible that for others the desired truth is different - catharsis looks different for everyone.

But ultimately I think the main question is not whether Arthur is really Thomas’ son, or it’s just that both Penny and Arthur have a knack for dreaming up their relationships. The question for me is rather why do I care one way or the other? Why do I care that Sophie is alive? Why did my friend care that the toy stops spinning?

I think such stories which embrace the narrative ambiguity and let people choose what to believe are very interesting. The feeling may be unsettling, but I believe it’s a great opportunity for self reflection, and it makes stories much more personal to the viewers.


End file.
